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234 Roger of Sicily

and west to the arid and burning plains of the
south-east,

The treason had the hoped-for result; the siege
had to be abandoned, and on the 28th of July the
Christians retired from Damascus, Nur-ed-dfn
occupied the city as they fell back, and the sole
advantage remained with him. The Second
Crusade therefore failed at all points, and left the
power of the Atabegs still unchecked.

The autumn and winter of x 148 and the spring
of 1149 saw numbers of the greatest princes of the
West returning home by sea. In September,
Conrad left Acre, and landing at Thessalonica
accepted Manuel's invitation to spend the winter
at Constantinople, At the same time he received
with anger the news of Roger's attack upon his
ally, and the failure of the Crusade inclined him
all the more to seek glory in Italy for his tarnished
sword, He entered, therefore, into the most
binding engagement with Manuel; the Sicilian
was to be overwhelmed by a double attack, and
envoys were despatched to win over Pisa and
Venice, In February, 1149, Conrad departed
for Germany, touching only for a moment upon
Italian soil at Ancona,

Manuel now came in person to the

of Corfu; the Greeks entered the fortress, but the
Norman troops retired to the acropolis, which was
of such a height that '"the eye could scarcely
measure it"; from here they poured down
stones and showers of darts "like fire showered



	234 Roger of Sicily and west to the arid and burning plains of the south-east, The treason had the hoped-for result; the siege had to be abandoned, and on the 28th of July the Christians retired from Damascus, Nur-ed-dfn occupied the city as they fell back, and the sole advantage remained with him. The Second Crusade therefore failed at all points, and left the power of the Atabegs still unchecked. The autumn and winter of x 148 and the spring of 1149 saw numbers of the greatest princes of the West returning home by sea. In September, Conrad left Acre, and landing at Thessalonica accepted Manuel's invitation to spend the winter at Constantinople, At the same time he received with anger the news of Roger's attack upon his ally, and the failure of the Crusade inclined him all the more to seek glory in Italy for his tarnished sword, He entered, therefore, into the most binding engagement with Manuel; the Sicilian was to be overwhelmed by a double attack, and envoys were despatched to win over Pisa and Venice, In February, 1149, Conrad departed for Germany, touching only for a moment upon Italian soil at Ancona, Manuel now came in person to the of Corfu; the Greeks entered the fortress, but the Norman troops retired to the acropolis, which was of such a height that '"the eye could scarcely measure it"; from here they poured down stones and showers of darts "like fire showered